Shakespeare Miller Autocrat

ReelNickels · Post by **ReelNickels** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 5:02 pm

I picked up a 4/0 at the fleamarket today with case and papers. I think I remember an article in ReelNews about Autocrats. Can anyone steer me to the correct back issue. Neat reel in 9/9. Thanks

Post by **john elder** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 7:42 pm

that's one great flea! would love to have a find like that out here among all the cruising sharks! I have the 6/0 and it is quite a tour de force, although I still think you'd get backlashed on a fish when you accidently let that handle crank back and out of gear!

if you google same, you will get a lot of assorted references. what I saw re us was that Mike Goff gave an expose at the 2001 convention on the Autocrat...not sure if that turned into an article or not, but if so, should show in the run-down on old reel newsi for sale at the orca store..and Phil has made the list of what's in each more newsy!

Harvey · Post by **Harvey** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 12:04 pm

John is correct on all points. Very nice find. And yes, Mike did a great job with a siminar at Cloumbia. Somewhere hidden in all the other stuff, I have some pictures of a protype reel that is in the Shakespeare archives at Columbia. There might be a picture of in on the Past Conventions page on the ORCA web site. I have spooled one up and took it deep sea. It proved to be a great reel after a dozen bird nests. Bad thing about them is that if they set around for a while, the drag gets stuck or should I say sluggish and must be taken apart and cleaned. It will work like a clock till you back the handle up too far then it sounds likwe a cat with it's tail caught in the screen door. Following that, there is a breif period of a couple hours needed to rewind the line back to a tight spool. Anyway, good luck,
H

Robyn Summerlin · Post by **Robyn Summerlin** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 2:18 pm

Not only is the Autocrat a beautiful reel, but recent sales of both 4/0 and 6/0 reels in excellent condition with the felt-lined box have gone over $1000! Ed Pritchard's site has pictures of 10/0 and 14/0 Autocrats but I don't know if those were regular production models. It's disappointing there isn't more info available on the Miller Autocrat and a Google search scarcely turns up more than a page of references, mostly from this forum. Several folks have referred me to Mike Goff's presentation at the 2001 National which was the year before I found ORCA, but I haven't found anything in writing about that.

Here's hoping someone with first-hand knowledge will step forward.

Robyn

Reel Geezer · Post by **Reel Geezer** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 9:23 pm

You don't have to look for your photo Harvey. There is one posted right here on this web site. All the photos I took at the 2001 Convention have always been posted on our site. However, I moved them to a separate page under the Reel Facts heading.

The way I remember this reel, it was the first Autocrat made - the original prototype.

Harvey · Post by **Harvey** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 11:02 pm

Thanks Phil. I do hve some other ones somewhere and will try to find them and post them so they will be avaiable for others. Can't do it right now. My 'puter fell and broke a leg so I had to re-format today. Spent the last 6 hours downloading updates. I will complete the catchin' up prosess tomorrow then I will hunt them up.
And by the way, A big pat on the back for re-doing the ORCA web site.
As they say in my "Hood', "You da Man!"
"H"